Alex de Minaur and Hugo Dellien were forced to pause their round-of-32 match.

Alex de Minaur and Hugo Dellien saw their match paused on Monday (Image: Sky Sports)

The Italian Open match between Alex de Minaur and Hugo Dellien was temporarily suspended on Monday morning. Medical staff were called in to help a member of the crowd while De Minaur held a slender lead early in the contest.

The Aussie was a break of serve up and motoring towards the first set when it became clear that somebody in the crowd required medical attention. Play was immediately suspended as the audience member received first aid for an unspecified issue. The chair umpire informed spectators that action would resume after a five-to-ten-minute break, but the match ended up being halted for 20 minutes while the issue was dealt with.

Both players were given a three-minute warm-up after the lengthy stoppage in play. And Dellien capitalised on De Minaur’s rhythm being interrupted, as he won the next two points to notch a crucial break of serve.

World No. 103 Dellien put together an impressive run to set up a meeting with seventh seed De Minaur in Rome. The Bolivian came through two qualfying matches before defeating Thiago Seyboth Wild in his first-round clash.

De Minaur had less work to do by comparison, as he went straight into the main draw and defeated Luca Nardi in two sets. Crowd issues have been a running theme during the Australian’s current trip to Rome.

Alex de Minaur ended up taking the first set against Hugo Dellien (Image: Getty)

In the middle of his match with Nardi, De Minaur stopped his service motion, walked to the back of the court and stared down a fan. The chair umpire then sent a security guard into the stands to deal with the situation.

“I think I did well to not lose my head,” De Minaur said after securing the win. “It would’ve been quite easy to get frustrated after having so many chances to break and not being able to get it over the line.

“Sometimes you’ve got to play with the cards you’re dealt, and that was today. I did my best to stay focused and stay as strong as I could mentally, that was what helped me out.”

De Minaur and Dellien kicked off the day’s action at Grand Stand Arena, with fans set to be treated to a sequence of intriguing matches. Seeded stars Jakub Mensik and Sebastian Korda are scheduled to turn out at the same venue, with the likes of Jannik Sinner and Casper Ruud playing on Centre Court.